coogs08

thanks, congrats to you too!

Hello my CB brothers & sisters, It's been a while since I have posted on here, I don't post here that often anymore and I apologize. But I definitely wanted to share something great with you guys. My repair journey has come a long way, I can't believe I am saying this but I am finally a member of the 700 club! never thought I'd see this day to be honest, my scores were all in the low 500s when I first began 2 years ago... Well I didn't come here to gloat, I wanted to share a method that I used this week. My scores were all in the mid 600s, I had one or two baddies on each report but my util was over 70%. I wanted to apply for auto loans, and wanted my scores above 680. I paid off all my credit cards last week and brought down my util to under 9% (wanted to leave a little on one card). The problem was that I wanted to apply for these loans this week, and the credit card companies wouldn't update the new balances upon request, only 'their standard once a month reporting'. I decided I would try something. What I did was request a faxed letter from each CCC on their letterhead, stating that the balances on my account was zero. All of my CCCs (even capital one, who sent it within an hour!) did this very willingly. I then found a contact at CSC Credit services, who is the equifax affiliate for me here in Texas. I gave her a call and explained my situation. She stated that they would only do it if there was an inquiry on my report proving that I had applied for an auto loan. She told me also that this was an act of courtesy, and they would update the file within 48 hours of receiving acceptable documents. Of course I wanted my scores high before applying, but I thought what the hell. I went and applied for the capital one blank check, just because I knew they'd do a hard pull on all 3 (I had 0 inquiries over the last year), guaranteeing an inquiry to show up on my equifax. After doing this, I called back my contact at CSC and she gave me a fax number. I faxed all my documents and she told me to call her back tomorrow to see if the letters were acceptable. This morning I called and they were all indeed updated, just pulled my equifax fico and it jumped from a 645 to a 714! Feel free to PM me about the contact details, I do not want to post it here for obvious reasons. Hope this helps some of you out! -coogs

no its not a guarantee, it isn't a pre approval, just an invitation. I got the same packet 2x the past month and I was declined after applying using the invitation code.

Sorry I haven't replied quick enough. I have numerous baddies on my reports, probably an average of about 6 on each. My TU and EQ ficos are 620/642 respectively. I had numerous AMEX cards in the past before screwing my credit up, I had even obtained a platinum card. 2 of the cards went to collections, however as a 20 year old college kid scared out of his mind, I paid them off immediately due to the harassment from the CAs. AMEX has removed any bad information to my CRs though which is a bit strange. All of the previous accounts I had with them (even the ones that got charged off) show as positive tradelines "account relationship terminated" or "account closed by credit grantor". So it is safe to say that I do not owe them a dime from previous accounts. I don't remember ever opting back in for offers, but the past few weeks I received an invitation to apply for the gold card from AMEX twice. I decided 'what the heck' and applied, as I haven't applied for credit in a while. I was declined immediately after applying online. About a week after the decline, they called me and made me this offer. I do not know if that $10,000 is the bare minimum for anybody or just me. My wife and I are 26 years old and lucky enough to enjoy a household income of 200k+. I don't know if our income has anything to do with them making this offer to me or not, but I definitely listed it when filling out the application.

Yes they pulled my experian (unfortunately). I just finished talking to a CSR. As far as the rate, it obviously depends on the day I open the CD account, but the last rate she told me was 1.3% APY. She said there is no maximum, but in my 'specific' case the minimum is $10,000. She also said that it would not be reported as a secured card on my credit report, and that I would enjoy all the same benefts of a regular AMEX cardmember. I asked her to send me some paperwork via mail so I could look it over, I have 30 days to accept the offer.

I was declined a few months ago for a prescreened offer. They didn't like the fact I have a new mortgage where I don't live. I didn't get that offer but it is apparently a new program. $10,000 minimum? CL based on CD? I like it. I've always thought this sort of thing makes particularly good sense for retired charge card holders. My Citi card's CD's term is up in March. Depending on whether they roll over the 25k I may try this new Amex route. I would put 50k in a CD for a 50k charge card CL in a flash. In some ways this seems a lot better than a traditional ANEX card with the risk of suspension while they do a FR - usually at inopportune times. Personally, I would prefer a secured card I could count on and would just as soon not have it unsecure. I wouldn't leave home without it. Thanks for the congrats, everyone. Yeah I believe this is a good offer too, I did not ask what rate they would offer on the CD as I just told them I would consider the offer this week and let them know. I can't imagine the rate being that great, I will call them this week and let you all know what the rate is once I find out.

Hello fellow CBers, It's been a long time since I've posted on here. I've been planning a wedding and purchased a home during my absence, which has kept me pretty busy! Hope everyone is doing great. Well I just wanted to share something with you all that I found very interesting. I applied for an AMEX rewards gold card and was declined about a week ago. This morning I received 2 phone calls from AMEX, they called my cell phone and my work number. After calling them back they said that they could offer me a secured gold card if I put a minimum $10,000 deposit into a CD. The deposit would determine my credit limit, and I would re-evaluated after a 1 year period to upgrade to an unsecured. The rep said this was something new that they are trying. I found this shocking, as I never thought I'd see AMEX offering secured cards. Have any of you others gotten this offer? Good to be back! -coogs

Whenever I hear about RJM on here it seems like it has to do with how easy they are to PFD. So I think your chances are good. However, I also hear about how they 'fold like a lawn chair' if you DV them and show them you know your rights. I suggest you DV them first however.

awesome!

so any updates? did you guys receive the cards with no 'strings attached'?

Well I found a number to call and I got my credit limit. What do ya know, it was the amount I dreaded, $300! What a waste...

How are you guys changing it to 1% of a balance change? The lowest option available for me is 5%.

If you look at the Credit Pulls DB and type in Hooters....you will see limits and scores all over the board. The score doesn't play 100% of the decision role in your limit, obviously. A lot of the lower scores with higher limits, were cards that were issued 2007 and earlier, a lot of the 2008+ accounts became much more conservative with the limits, with respect to the associated scores. I have no clue what your TU report looks like (Hooters pulls TU only), so depending on that, will decide what limit you get, AF fee, and APR. The Hooters CSR should be able to tell you your limit....just call back and ask. No luck on getting them to tell me the limit, I'll just wait the 7-10 days and post it here when it comes. I just hope I get at least $500, I would be upset if they gave me a $300 limit...

Thanks for the congrats, MM. Wow it looks like its pretty sporadic and not very score dependent...